Tom Daschle Quotations

What we need is not more distrust and division. What we need now is acceptance.

Senators, like everyone else, want to feel a part of this decision-making process. They want to feel included.

We have exhausted all of our diplomatic effort to get the Iraqis to comply with their own agreements and with international law. Given that... we have got to force them to comply, and we are doing so militarily.

Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people.

Bipartisanship isn't an option anymore; it is a requirement. The American people have divided responsibility for leadership right down the middle.

The campaign is over. It's time for the work of governing to begin.

You've got two people that are well known in South Dakota, respected. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Let there be no doubt: the state of our union is strong - stronger than the terrorists who seek to harm us and stronger than the challenges that confront us. At the same time, we know that our union can be stronger still.

It was important for us to be as supportive as our candidates and as our incumbent senators would have us be.

It would be nice if we could clear up the nominations that are still out there, and there are a lot of them.

On issues relating to taxes, you don't always speak with one voice.

We know we're up against the wall. We know how difficult a challenge it is, being in the minority.

We must correct the problems and inequities in the way we conduct and decide elections in the United States.

We must govern from the middle, or we will not be able to govern at all.

I've been amazed at the degree to which Democrats, in particular, have expressed their enthusiasm for the president's manner with which he handled this budget.

People were concerned about national security, and that precluded us from having the opportunity to break through on the issues that we cared most about - the economy, education and health care.

When you're in the minority, it doesn't matter what you're agenda is, you're not going to have the degree of freedom that you have as a member of the majority.

We're in a very unpredictable mode at this point,

where I come from would earn a trip to the woodshed.

Whether we come up with a solution or not is an open question. Members on both sides of the aisle are wanting to be careful about things we write here.

When I was accused of being an obstructionist, there was a corresponding, a very significant increase in the number of issues that my family and I had to deal with. And I worry about that,

What we're offering is real jobs, real opportunity and real prosperity -- a plan that works for our country,

We're going to hit this economy awfully hard in the coming months, ... We will be laying out a plan that is immediate, that is targeted directly to the middle class and that doesn't exacerbate the debt.

We're going to bump the session now until Dec. 5, ... The feeling was there was just too much uncertainty swirling around both Washington and the campaigns to make the session productive.

Were it not for the fact that we demonstrated good faith today, we would not be able to demonstrate good faith when challenges and difficult circumstances arise.

very curious, given this has been under way now for this long.

would almost exclusively go to the wealthiest Americans.

We're still troubled by the CBO analysis that we're using Social Security trust funds, at least $19 billion,

We have said form the beginning that if he would work with us we could reach a bipartisan compromise, ... He chose not to, and he got beat.

We have no choice but to revisit the question on other bills. Especially given the relationship between guns and schools these days, I think it's a natural assumption that one could make that there could be some amendments which will be offered,

We are going to have to keep the effort to find some mutual agreement at a later date. We're not going to do that today, ... We certainly have to work to extend unemployment benefits.

We are here in complete unity with our New York and New Jersey friends, ... We support you, and we're here to continue to provide that support whatever it may mean. That support will be here for whatever length of time it takes.

There is no doubt that if we have lost that much money in retirement accounts, we lost that much money in the stock market itself, we could lose similar amounts of money in projected surpluses.

We have a real problem with regard to Social Security and Medicare,

We have, in my view, come some distance, ... We got a long way to go before that can be achieved.

There are those who have expressed concern that this has become politicized, ... I think you have to ask the tough questions to get the right answers.

We want to make this as competitive a race as there is in the country, ... Frank Lautenberg's record, his reputation and the kind of candidate he is assures that, but we want to give him the resources to make sure he's got what he needs to get over the top.

there are too many dangers inherent with using gas throughout the entire complex.

There are times when we have occasions when we have to make our individual judgments, and that's what he did and I have no disagreement with that, ... He made his best judgment, and I'm making mine.

Let us be clear, ... All Americans deserve a tax cut. But surely, the wealthiest among us should not get it at the expense of working families. There's a better way.

makes more explicit the purpose of the effort and ties down what it is we're authorizing the use of force for.

Let us respond with the same commitment and resolve in this drought as we would with any other natural disaster.

Many of us of have said from the beginning that we have not seen any intelligence information that would give us any conclusive evidence to suggest the threat was imminent, ... I think this public report now bears that conclusion out.

Second, the tax cut must be fair to all Americans. Third, it must allow us to pay down the debt,

second-guess what has been done to date ... the jury is still out on future success.

Sen. Jeffords' decision now produces some changes, ... The historic 50-50 Senate now becomes history. This will be America's first 50-49-1 Senate.

So I thank the director of the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) for confirming what we said last spring, but it doesn't make the fact that we were right feel any better.

OK, we'll take the first step. This is as crucial as it gets.

Somebody leaked it, obviously, with intent, I think, to do damage to Mr. Berger, and I think that's unfortunate,

My leadership allows me to get a lot done for my home state.

Obviously we are trying to avoid even the perception of partisanship, ... Face the Nation.

Of course these days -- with modern medicine -- everything could be revived, and I suppose there is always that chance. But it is looking deader and deader,

Obviously, so much can happen between now and then. But you'd have to assume the presumptive nominee would be whoever lost this election, ... I can't imagine anyone else having a better claim at this stage.

Obviously, given the level of his dissatisfaction, you would think they would have picked up on it and maybe done something constructive with it,

On September 14th, we voted unanimously to send our troops into action against the perpetrators of the cowardly and heinous attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That was our constitutional duty, and it is one that none of us takes lightly,

One of the responsibilities of his job is to increase the confidence in this country about the importance that our country is placing on homeland security, that we understand its complexities and the difficult challenges we face, ... But if he can't be an advocate before Congress, it's hard for me to understand how he can be an advocate before the country.

I was struck by how vacant the galleries were and so few seniors citizens looking down, ... What you saw instead were lobbyists packing the halls. They will do well. Our seniors will not, and that is why the fight will go on.

I would give this Congress a B for achievement, a D for behavior and the overall assessment of incomplete,

If we can't even figure out how it was that they enacted the threats or moved through that attack, and if we can't evaluate why we were as vulnerable as we were -- if we can't evaluate how it was the last 9/11 happened -- how is it that we can prepare for the next one?

If we completed the count, there is little doubt you'd be ahead, ... In order to win, you have to get the votes. We think you've got the votes.

I have every expectation we can finish within the week -- within a week, not this week,

I'd love to be able to say I told you so,

I disagree with the pardon of Mr. Rich. I think it was inappropriate. But I don't know all the facts, and I can't pass final judgment on it,

I don't know that anyone in this country could view what we've seen so far as a diplomatic success,

I don't know of another administration that has enjoyed the success in confirmations of its judges as this administration has,

I am here to announce today with great pride and great enthusiasm that I will do all I can in the next two years to make this man the next president of the United States,

I believe that the leadership in the Senate needs to know what contingency plans there are in case of an emergency. I don't think that is too much to ask. I feel as a result of the briefing I was given today, I now know. I will leave it at that,

But this is irrational, this is wrong, and I believe the more they use the 'R' word, the more trouble we're going to find ourselves in,

I hate to say I told you so, but we told you so,

I can't imagine that we would pass any bill that would tolerate slipping back into a level of intolerance that would be acceptable in today's society,

given the circumstances, the environment, the sense that we were responding to 9/11, and all of the urgency that was created by the rhetoric and cajoling of the administration.

Forty-three percent of their tax benefits go to people earning an average of $900,000, ... We want to provide a cut for families that pay only payroll taxes, who would not be helped under the president's plan.

Forty-four senators have now voted to dismiss the articles of impeachment, ... The president will not be removed from office. For the good of the country and in keeping with the Constitution it is now time to end this trial. We are here not to protect the president of the United States; we were here to protect the Constitution and we have done so faithfully and fully.

If the stories in the media over the past week are accurate, the president has exercised authority that I do not believe is granted to him in the Constitution, and that I know is not granted to him in the law that I helped negotiate with his counsel and that Congress approved in the days after September 11.

He has invested an inordinate amount of his personal credibility, work and effort to get to this point,

There is a great deal of common ground here as we consider our priorities. I'm hopeful that we can work together to accomplish as much as possible in the short time that we have,

There is no erosion of that support, ... There is extraordinary belief that the vice president and Senator Lieberman have conducted themselves in a way that makes us very proud.

What I'm going to do is talk to my colleagues a little bit. It was a very helpful briefing, and we were in a position to ask a lot of good questions, ... more to say about it later.

We've got to rise to a higher level,

We've finally gotten rid of the deficit, and they're hell-bent on bringing it back,

We therefore expect more say on how the Senate is run, and that includes everything from deciding what bills are debated on the floor, what goes into conference reports, to deciding committee chairs and ratios, and assigning committee staff and office space,

to convey our serious concerns about the deteriorating condition of the federal budget and the nation's economy.

He's been the one who's said we want a kinder and gentler SEC, the opposite of what we should have had, ... We could do a lot better than Harvey Pitt in that position today.

He's been silent on the issue. He's been unengaged and showing absolutely no leadership. And I think it's critical that he do so as we go into the busiest and most troubling time of the year from a price perspective.

His words were offensive to those who believe in freedom and equality in America,

Unless we address this with fiscal stimulus that will give us more confidence than we have today, these problems will compound.

We may have had differences of opinion about what brought us to this point, but the president is commander-in-chief, and today we unite behind him as well,

I acknowledged that concern, and it is for that reason that the Intelligence Committee is going to begin this effort, trying to limit the scope and the overall review of what happened,

He did criticize (the) effort in his speech and yet it appears that is what he did himself,

has a lot more Washington experience than George Bush had four years ago.

The only thing taken off the table -- I think on a bipartisan basis -- is the utilization of the Social Security trust fund,

It again demonstrates why we have to address the infrastructure of our intelligence-gathering analysis and the actions that are taken as a result of that analysis, ... We've got a lot of work to do, and this is just the most recent reminder that we've got a problem here and it's got to be fixed and it's got to be done this year.

I take this personally. It's not only an attack on me, it's an attack on where I'm from,

I think it is fair to say that there is a growing number of economists that question the stimulus,

I think it is essential we put as much pressure through the international community on North Korea to do the right thing and do it quickly,

I think it's critical that we offer minimum wage limits to all these jobs,

I think it's important for us to try to find ways to work together,

I think it's important that, to the extent possible, those contingency plans be coordinated, that each branch work in concert with the other. I don't think that's been done adequately to date, but I am confident that it could be in the future,

It involves greater surveillance. It involves improving the working relationship among federal and state and local agencies. It involves more border control and border opportunities to deal with those involved in crossing our borders,

I think the bill would be hard to oppose.